Use WhatsApp on your PC with Android Emulator

Whether you're an iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 or even a Symbian S60 user, WhatsApp is a messaging app that's common amongst these mobile platforms. With your phone number as an identifier, the app uses your device's internet data plan to blast its messages, keeping your SMS count intact and within limit.

How would you like to send WhatsApp messages, with your PC? Well, that's possible if you fulfill the following pre-requisites:

1. Have access to an Android emulator such as BlueStacks or YouWave (the latter is a paid app, with a 4 day free trial).

2. Download the WhatsApp.apk from WhatsApp's website. WhatsApp is free to download on Android for the first year, following which it'll cost US$1.99 per year.

3. A Windows PC

According to a thread created by TrNaSe from XDA-developers, the workaround to using WhatsApp on your PC requires just a few simple steps. In brief, here's what you need to do using the YouWave Android emulator:

1. Download and install YouWave on your Windows machine.

2. Run YouWave, Click on Help and then Instructions to find the directory where the apps reside. Typically, it should look like C:\Users\HardwareZone\youwave\Android apps\

3. Copy the WhatsApp.apk file to the apps directory.

4. Click on View, Redraw Icons, and the WhatsApp shortcut will appear.

5. Double-click on the WhatsApp icon within YouWave

6. Enter your mobile number for verification purposes. Most likely, you won't be able to enter the verification code until you are prompted for call verification. Accept the call, listen to the verification code, and enter it on the emulator.

And that's it. You can now send WhatsApp messages to your friends through your PC.